HotDK 17: "Oathbreaker"

Having made it to Dragonspear at the crossroads of Coast Way and The Trade Way, you are granted a couple of days furlough as the wagon masters refresh supplies and give the pack animals and extended rest.

Malice and Pubert find an alchemist that is able to determine that the Jerky of Healing needs nothing more special to prepare than meat and a Potion of Healing to make. Allow four pieces of meat to marinate in the potion until absorbed then allow it to dry as you would any other preparation of jerky. Luckily, he has two such potions on hand which Pubert purchases.

Once on the road again the first couple of days are relatively calm as you are still within the patrol area of Dragonspear’s town watch. But a few days out, Malice spots what appears to be a human head in the middle of the road about a hundred yards ahead. Pubert scouts ahead and finds that it is indeed a human head; moreover, it is a human male that’s been buried up to his head with the word “OATHBREAKER” painted on his forehead.

At first, his story is that he broke off a marriage engagement and the bride’s brothers took such offense that they did this him. Despite the grumblings of many in the caravan, most notably Achreny, Pubert and Malice spend the next couple of hours digging the man up while the rest of the caravan breaks for lunch.

Once the man is pulled out of the ground wearing only a loincloth, Brehana notices that he has a tattoo of the Harper’s symbol on his arm. She reveals her Harper’s pin to him at which point he reveals what really happened. His name is Carlon Amoffel and he was the same mission as you are; tracking a group of Cult of the Dragon members trucking treasure up the Trade Way. When they reached Dragonspear he passed off information to his contact there but unfortunately was seen by the cult members. The cultists manufactured a story that he was passing information to bandits. The merchants were unwilling to kill him outright, but they were willing to leave him buried in the road and “let providence decide the man’s fate.” You convince Achreny that Carlon can be trusted, especially since he’s too weak to try anything anyway and he’s allowed to sleep in the back of one of the wagons after Malice loans him some clothes.

Traveling along the Trade Way through the Trollbark and Misty Forests keeps everyone on their toes since the forests are dense and there are many more places for bandits to hide along The Trade Way than crossing the open fields of The Coast Way. Sure enough, you are soon attacked by a three ettercaps that attempt to steal horses and drag them into the woods to be food for a pair of giant spiders. You prevail in slaying the creatures, but not without sustaining wounds of your own. And as luck would have it, as soon as the battle is over, the rain that has been threatening to fall for days finally does so in earnest.